There are a lot of writing competitions out there, and some incredibly prestigious ones too. But there are an incredibly small number of writing competitions that focus specifically on funny writing. Lots of opportunities for standups, but few for funny writers.
There’s nothing to stop you submitting a funny story to one of the many short story competitions, and some judges have said that they wish there were more funny stories submitted, but the reality is that very few of the winning stories are funny.
Thankfully, there are a handful of competitions that focus on funny writing. Here’s a roundup.
The Write Mango Award (Short Story)
The Write Mango Award is a brand new writing competition from the Scottish Arts Club, which runs at the same time as their annual short story competition. According to the Scottish Arts Club’s website, the Write Mango Award aims to “promote those quirky stories that sometimes leave us laughing out loud or just totally bemused.”
Although it is run by the Scottish Arts Club, the competition is open to writers worldwide.
To Hull & Back (Short Story)
To Hull And Back is a biennial short story competition that focuses on humorous stories, and is open to writers worldwide. Winners receive cash prizes as well as publication in an anthology of that year’s winning short stories.
You can view previous winners by purchasing copies of previous To Hull & Back short story anthologies on Kindle.
The Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest (Poetry)
The Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest is probably the longest running of all the humour writing competitions and focuses on funny poems. Despite the generous prize fund, entry is free. The competition is open to aspiring poets all over the world.
You can view previous winners on the Wergle Flomp poetry contest website.
The Best of Times Short Story Competition (Short Story)
Although the website is very Australia-focused, The Best of Times Short Story Competition is open to writers worldwide. The short story competition runs twice per year, and has been running since 2006.
You can view all of the previous winners on the right-hand side of the competition website.
Witcraft Annual Humour Competition
The Witcraft Annual Humour Competition takes place every summer, with the competition opening in June and closing at the end of July. Entries should be a minimum of 200 words and a maximum of 1,000 words of fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. Submissions should showcase wit, humour, puns, absurdity and irony.